


Like Extremely Stupid Sharks

by imalright



Series: Sylvix Week 2019 [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, No Spoilers, Roommates, Sylvixweek2019, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:22:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imalright/pseuds/imalright
Summary: Felix enlists Mercedes' help for Sylvain's birthday.Sylvix Week Day 4: Roommates





	Like Extremely Stupid Sharks

**Author's Note:**

> me: i'm gonna stay around 1k words for each of my sylvix week prompts so i don't get in over my head over a fun theme week  
me: .......................................unless

Mercedes Martritz doesn't necessarily consider herself special. She's scatterbrained and somewhat stubborn, she can be frivolous, and she often clings to her friends, bothering them over her petty problems. Her friends use much kinder words to describe her. Words such as "unflappable" and "empathetic", which she supposes are also true. She cares deeply for her friends and is thrilled to help them in their times of need, whether they need a shoulder to cry on or someone to drive the moving truck.

This, of course, is why she's at Felix and Sylvain's shared apartment.

"I need you to teach me how to knit."

Mercedes tilts her head. "Why in the world do you need to learn how to knit?"

Felix groans and pulls at his hair. This must be causing him great distress.

"I want to make Sylvain something for his birthday," he admits, looking sheepish. "I thought, you know, it gets cold here. Maybe I could knit him a hat or something."

"Felix... his birthday is the beginning of summer."

He bristles at that. "I know! That's — that's not the point!"

She nods thoughtfully. It most certainly is not the point.

"Well, Felix, I'm happy to teach you how to knit!" She claps her hands together. Felix almost looks startled, but perhaps he's simply startled by how quickly she agreed. "You've never knitted before, correct?"

"No."

"Hmm," she rests a finger on her cheek, thinking. "If this is the first time you've ever knitted I think we should start with something easy. How about a scarf?"

He shrugs. "I don't care. A scarf is fine."

"Great! Are you ready to write down a shopping list?"

He pulls out his phone and looks at her expectantly. She takes that as a cue to continue.

"Well, I think you should start with a thicker yarn and thick needles," she says, tapping her cheek as she thinks, "that'll make it go by much quicker. Oh — and make sure you check the materials! I bet Sylvain would really appreciate a nice wool scarf..."

She continues her musing, checking every so often to be sure Felix has written everything down. She asks him what color he's considering and immediately shoots him down when he mentions using multiple colors to knit in a design. She opens her phone and searches for solid-colored scarves; Felix leans in to look at the examples she's pulled up, pointing out colors he thinks Sylvain would like, and it's at this moment the front door opens. Felix leaps away from Mercedes as if he's been burned.

"Thanks for your help, Mercedes!" Felix says, a strange lilt to his words, almost as if he's trying much too hard to be nice. "I think that's all I need today. I, uh, I gotta do something."

Mercedes chooses not to ask about his nervous glances towards the door, where Sylvain is currently taking his shoes off. She chooses not to ask why he's shoved his hands into his pockets, hiding his phone away when he could just as easily lock its screen. She also chooses not to ask when she should come back and continue helping.

"Anytime, Felix," is what she chooses to say. She gathers her things and nods to Sylvain as she leaves.

She decides the confused look on his face is Felix's problem.

* * *

Mercedes sits cross-legged on Felix's bedroom floor across from him, eyeing a massive bag full of supplies. He's silent and, well, that's just fine. She hums one of Annette's songs and takes his purchases out, laying them one by one between them.

"Well, I do think you got quite enough yarn," she says, gesturing to the four skeins of thick, blue wool, "and these needles will do just fine. I don't believe you'll need the stitch counters, though."

Mercedes doesn't quite catch what Felix grumbles. Something about being prepared. She supposes that isn't a bad idea.

"First, I'll show you how to cast on."

She runs through the steps with Felix, careful to correct him when he pulls the yarn too tight or leaves it too loose. She notes that they likely cast on too much, making the scarf thicker than it needs to be, but eyeing the _four skeins of yarn_ he purchased, she doesn't think it'll be much of an issue. He often pulls the yarn too tight and overcorrects on the next row, leaving it too loose. She helpfully points out every time he does this, which is every stitch, and each time he gets more frustrated.

"This is bullshit," he mutters as he's forcing a needle through a too-tight stitch. She hums. He'll figure it out.

They're working for hours and time must get away from them because, once again, the door opens and Felix scrambles to hide everything they've been working on. Mercedes calmly gets to her feet and raises her eyebrows.

"I'll figure it out," Felix hisses, "I'm going to distract him, try and get out without him noticing."

She nods, though she thinks the secrecy is kind of silly.

He nods back. He looks very determined.

"Sylvain! Come here!" Felix calls as he exits the room. He must be leading Sylvain into the main area of the house because she can no longer hear their conversation. She takes that as her cue to leave and walks quite sneakily to the door, puts on the shoes she left in the entry, and leaves. She hears a familiar shout as the door swings shut behind her.

"So, uh, what's going on between you and Felix?"

Mercedes turns and smiles at Sylvain, who apparently rushed after her through the door before it closed. His eyes are stormy and his smile is fake even though he knows she knows it's fake. He knows she can see into his heart, and she knows he donned this mask with intention. He doesn't trust her.

Oh well.

"Felix asked me to help him with something as a friend," she explains, not unkindly. "That's all."

"You know you can tell me," he says, waving his hand in faux flippancy.

"Oh, but I already have!" She nods and turns to leave again. "Goodnight, Sylvain."

* * *

The way Sylvain greets her when she arrives at their apartment for his birthday party is less than warm, but she doesn't mind. She greets him just as warmly as she would any other time and hands over her gift, which is still slightly warm from the oven, before inviting herself in around Sylvain's stubborn figure. This will solve itself by the end of the night, she supposes, so it's nothing to fret over.

"Oh, Annie, this cake is just lovely!" She exclaims, much to Annette's delight.

Mercedes takes her time making the rounds. She compliments Dedue's hair ("Did you get it cut just for Sylvain's birthday?") and Dimitri's, as well. Ashe brought a lovely bouquet of flowers which she fusses over and, when she learns he grew them himself, she asks about his gardening setup in his tiny apartment. She invites Ingrid to dinner to try a new recipe she found and, when Flayn overhears this, she invites her, too.

A familiar, sharp voice cuts through the noise and Mercedes jumps.

"Could you follow me for a second — calm down!" Felix snaps in her ear. His hand wraps around her upper arm and nudges her in the direction of his own bedroom, gentle enough that she could shake him off if she wishes but firm enough to communicate the urgency. She nods.

They weave their way through friends and acquaintances. Mercedes takes in Felix's state; the tension wrapped up in his shoulders, the rush in his step that causes him to falter. She can nearly feel the anxiety emanating off him, thinly masked by a scowl that many others wouldn't bother to look past. He leads her to his bedroom door, in clear view of the main room but not blocked by people, and nudges her to enter before him. He glances over his shoulder and shuts the door behind him.

"Mercedes, I..."

She stands patiently while he gathers his thoughts.

"I..."

She stands patiently some more.

"I can't do it!" He finally snaps, defeated. She tilts her head and raises her eyebrows in a silent question.

He sighs, which turns into a growl, and he stomps to his dresser. She watches, somewhat amused, as he pulls and pulls and _pulls_ a bundle of blue yarn from the top drawer, single socks falling to the floor with his more forceful yanks, and when he unravels the mass of wool she has to bite back a snicker.

The scarf Felix spent so much time on, that he made with such love, is... Well...

"It's functional," she observes. She takes it from Felix's hands and inspects it up close; it's full of holes made up of missed stitches, most of which are uneven where he wasn't paying attention to the tension around his needles, and she can't even begin to fathom what he must have done for the width to be so artfully inconsistent. "I have to say, I'm impressed by how much you got done," she says truthfully.

"I can't give this to him," he says despairingly, "it's awful! I — I don't have anything else. I don't know what to do."

Mercedes takes in his words and his panic, calmly processes it, and files it away in the will-solve-itself folder. Instead, she folds the scarf in her hands, _(wow, this is long),_ and hands it back to Felix with an encouraging smile.

"Yes you can!" she says, and before he can protest she pulls him into a hug, the massive scarf in Felix's arms between them.

"I really — " Felix is cut short when his bedroom door is flung open.

"AH HA!" Sylvain shouts as he bursts into the room, pointing between the two of them, "I KNEW IT! SO YOU _ARE_ TOGETHER!"

Felix hurriedly holds the scarf behind his back and Mercedes chooses not to tell him it's clearly visible, trailing on the ground next to him.

"What?!" he snaps. His entire face is red, though whether it's from embarrassment or anger she isn't sure.

"You two think you're so sneaky," Sylvain punctuates this with a wink. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped!"

"You idiot!" Felix is yelling now. Mercedes sets a grounding hand on his shoulder and isn't all that surprised to find he's shaking. "We're not — ugh! We're not together!"

Sylvain's eyebrows raise. "Oh, so you've been jumping apart when I walk in the room for fun, hm? Meeting up while I'm not around to be friends?"

Mercedes has known both Felix and Sylvain for years. She knows Felix ignores his problems and Sylvain minimizes his own, but when it comes to each other, they're willfully ignorant in the most frustrating way while simultaneously enveloping themselves in the other's troubles. They dance around one another, each diving in at the least opportune moment like, like... _like extremely stupid sharks,_ her mind finishes lamely. She's watched this for far too long, watched their pining gazes follow one while the other isn't looking, listened to the longing way they each complain about one another, and she can't watch this anymore. Finally, she cuts off Felix's sputtering.

"Oh, Sylvain," she smiles softly at him. His eyes dart to her, calculating and sour, a sharp contrast to the smile on his face. "I've been helping Felix make your birthday present!" She gestures, quite helpfully, to the blue trail Felix failed to gather. "He's disappointed it didn't come out perfect. He only wants the best for you, you know. He loves you, after all."

Felix chokes.

Sylvain's eyes soften almost imperceptibly and he leans to get a better look at his hidden gift.

"W-WAIT!" Felix shouts. He steps back, accidentally stepping on the scarf, and Sylvain steps forward. "No! It's not ready!"

Sylvain leaps.

Felix squawks.

Sylvain reaches both arms around Felix and grabs it.

Mercedes covers her mouth to conceal her laughter.

Felix blushes an even deeper red that reaches to his ears and to his neck.

Sylvain takes advantage of Felix's flustered state and rips it out of his hands.

"Hey!"

Mercedes can no longer conceal her laughter. She's rather proud of herself for not doubling over, though.

Sylvain unravels the exceptionally long, uneven, wavy, holey scarf and holds it up in front of himself, between him and Felix.

Felix looks like he'd rather sink into the ground and die than have to witness this.

Sylvain joins Mercedes in a fit of hysterical laughter.

"I told you it's not done yet!" Felix makes to snatch the scarf from Sylvain's hands but Sylvain's faster. He jerks it away and immediately wraps it around himself, dancing around Felix, who is still trying to take it back. Their exchange has turned his laughter from amused to positively gleeful, a change she knows Felix notices if the small smile on his face says anything. Sylvain spins and Felix grabs and Mercedes laughs until the scarf is piled high on Sylvain's shoulders and he stops. Felix freezes and the look on his face is positively dreading.

She can't see Sylvain's mouth, but she can see his massive smile from the way his eyes crinkle up.

He pulls a frozen Felix into his arms. The way his fingers card through his hair is so _intimate,_ so loving, it sobers her entirely. She excuses herself, though she's sure they aren't paying attention, and if she sees Sylvain whispering into Felix's ear? Kissing his cheek? Well, that's not any of her business, is it?

**Author's Note:**

> i watched two hours of mercedes supports to get her internal dialogue right. she's savage. this woman truly gives zero fucks.
> 
> i was writing something else for day 4 but i didn't know where to go with it after 600 words so i started over and now i'm behind rip
> 
> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/punchyfakegamer)


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